Kathmandu, February 23

Twenty-one-year-old Shivam Shah, a permanent resident of Dhanusha, who was riding his motorbike towards Gwarko met a fatal accident near Ekantakuna in Lalitpur district after a motorbike coming from the opposite direction collided with his bike.

Later in the evening, another overspeeding bike hit a 54-year-old pedestrian in Talchikhel of the same district, leading to his death. Traffic police concluded that both the accidents were caused by overspeeding.

Overspeeding is one of the leading causes of all accidents in Kathmandu valley where the maximum speed limit has been fixed at 50 km per hour in the road section with multiple one-way lanes. However, many riders, especially those of the younger generation, do not seem to take the rule seriously. In this backdrop, Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, Singhadurbar has fixed the speed limit inside various road segments in the valley, saying it will enforce checking of overspeeding vehicles more seriously.

As per the rule, the maximum speed limit has been fixed at 50 km per hour along the ring-road segment from Koteshwor to Kalanki and Koteshwor to Suryabinayak. Likewise, the maximum speed limit has been fixed at 20 km per hour for vehicles on the service track of the road section. As per the rule, vehicles are allowed to operate at 15 km per hour in school areas.

Senior Superintendent of Police Rajendra Prasad Bhatta of the KVTPO said, 'Of all the road fatalities in the valley, overspeeding is responsible for over 35 per cent of deaths. And of all the accidents, 80 per cent are related to motorbikes. In the last fiscal 2022-23, a total of 10,733 accidents were recorded inside the valley, of which 3,543 accidents were caused due to overspeeding. A total of 191 people died last year. In the past seven months of the current fiscal, a total of 5,940 accidents have been recorded, of which 1,375 were caused due to overspeeding. A total of 111 people have died in the past seven months.

As per traffic police, overspeeding is a kind of offence which could be curbed only with awareness among the people. SSP Bhatta said on an average, 100 motorists are booked for speeding violations.

'We have booked over 21,000 offenders for driving over the speed limit. But, we think harsh punishment or stricter implementation of the rule cannot solely help reduce this problem. It's the people who need to change their attitude about overspeeding. Only then will such accidents be minimised,' SSP Bhatta said.

Anybody found violating the speed limit for the first time will have to pay the fine of Rs 500. Likewise, the second time offender will have to pay the fine of Rs 1,000 and those who violate the rule for at least three times will have to pay a fine of Rs 1,500.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 24, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.